A Strange Passing
by Buzybeez
Summary: "His right hand came to stroke her cheek and Hinata shut her eyes as if that would make it all go away."  Not a one shot anymore so please R
1. Chapter 1

It's just something I wrote a long time ago and I thought why not publish it on fanfiction and see what readers think about it. So do tell me what you think about it and I hope you enjoy reading it :]

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

Hinata ducked swiftly as the kick aimed for her head missed her by a few inches but no sooner had she stepped back that her opponent came forward with several jabs and kicks aimed at her chest and stomach.

She kept on avoiding them but never gained a possibility to lunge at her opponent. He was fast never giving her a chance to rest and think up a strategy to counter attack. He leapt back and sent several Kunai in her direction which she dodged by jumping backwards with her right hand but as soon as she landed on her feet, the opponent's feet connected with her stomach and she was sent flying backwards into a tree.

Hinata tried to get back up but she had hit the tree hard. It took her a full minute to stand up and look about for her enemy but to no avail as he had already fled, "great!"

Hinata sat back down and started to treat her wounds, she had thought that she had dodged all of his kunai but apparently one or two had grazed her right arm and left leg.

She couldn't set camp as she was expected back from her mission today. She had no choice but to travel at night besides she was restless to get home and figure out who she had just encountered in the deep forest of Konoha.

…...

"Hinata! Hinata!"

Hinata turned around to see who was calling her and started to move towards the source of the noise. She blushed as she approached him, "Naruto?"

"Hinata chan have you seen a tall guy with spiky black hair running away from the village?"

"No." Naruto turned away and started to run in the opposite direction, "but I did have a strange encounter with an enemy almost five hours ago in the deep forest…." Naruto didn't let her finish and grabbed her hand, "come on we have to tell granny Tsunade all about it."

Hinata didn't say anything further; she was to busy blushing and letting Naruto drag her to the Hokage's office.

Naruto didn't even bother to knock on the door but simply opened the door with a bang.

Tsunade looked at him with an annoyed expression but lucky for him Sakura was there to give him a scolding instead, "how many times have I told you to knock before you enter the room NA-RU-TO."

"Sakura chan there is a logical explanation for this, you see I was enquiring about and I found Hinata chan and she saw that person and I brought her here right away."

Everyone hushed up as soon as they heard Naruto, "you mean you saw the thief that stole the information?" asked Shikamaru.

Tsunade looked directly at Hinata, "calm down, you have just come back from a mission, just state what you saw."

Hinata nodded and inhaled a deep breath, "well I was returning back from my mission in the hidden Cloud country. I was in the deep forest just five hours away from Konoha West gates when out of intuition I turned my Byakugan on. At first I didn't see anyone or anything but then I was suddenly attacked out of no where. My opponent was fast, knew I had the Byakugan and also knew about my blind spot."

"Any other information that might be of any use to us."

"He was exceptionally well trained in Taijutsu. The speed with which he threw his attacks approximately equaled to that of Lee."

"You weren't able to defeat him."

"No I wasn't. I was barely keeping up with him while dodging his attacks."

"Ok thank you Hinata, you can rest for now, I will expect a full report of your mission tomorrow."

"Hai Tsunade sama."

"Dismissed."

…...

Hinata made her way wondering who in the world would risk their lives stealing information from Konoha.

Shaking her head Hinata entered the gates of the Hyuga compound. She could see Neji and her father training in the courtyard but traveling all night she was pretty tired and didn't bother to greet anyone, instead hurried towards her room to have a nice long nap after a good bath of course.

…...

"Hinata you got back," shouted Hanabi as she pounced on her.

"Yes I did two or three hours ago. Hanabi you're crushing me."

"Oh sorry, so how did your mission go?"

"It went fine, now may I please get some sleep; I traveled all night to get back."

"Oh sure, have a nice sleep, don't forget tomorrow we have a practice match."

Hanabi looked back when she didn't receive a reply and chuckled, her sister had already fallen asleep.

* * *

"So?"

"She could keep up with me and also dodge my attacks."

A woman entered the room, "why did you have to piss the Konoha people, we are not suppose to attract attention damn it."

"I just had to do it…"

"If you pull this kind of a stunt again, I will slash you to pieces so fast that you won't even know what happened to you. Stick to the plan you moron."

"Ok Ok, can you please move that sword away from me now." Rubbing his neck he stood up, "you should watch where you aim it or you might regret it someday."

"Why you…"

"Enough! Sasuke you'll deliver the information back to the Konoha people, is that understood?"

"Yes master sama."

"Lillian!"

"Yes master sama."

"Be ready!"

* * *

"What do you think Shikamaru?"

"Well the person who stole the information must have been very skilled, he got in the village without being detected, got past our security and the guards which by the way are Anbu Black Ops, especially trained for guarding that information. That person must have been highly skilled."

"I know that, tell me something I don't like have you figured out how he managed to get past the guards inside and why didn't the alarm go off when the information got stolen."

"Well I examined the area above as well as the chamber and it seems our thief went down the elevator which is the only way up or down but he didn't leave the chamber the same way he came down. I have seen the blue prints and there is no other way out of that chamber. Just give me some more time and I will have it figured out. But..."

She slammed her fists on the table, "but what?"

Shikamaru sweat dropped but dared to continue, "I need permission to access the old library, I have a hunch he used some kind of jutsu to leave that chamber."

"That is obvious but the old library is off limits do you know that."

"Yes I know but if you want me to solve this case I need some information."

Gripping her head in her hands Tsunade caved in, "you promise me one that you will not steal any thing from the old library, two that you will be attended by an Anbu Balck Ops when you visit that library at all times and three you will not look at any other information that is not relevant to this case."

"I promise!"

"Then you can visit it tomorrow from nine to eleven at night. Dismissed!"

…...

"You're awake Hinata sama?"

"Hai what are you doing here Neji nii-san?"

"Just getting a glass of water. How was your mission?"

"It was a success but…"

"But what, did something happen?" asked Neji with somewhat alarm.

"No nothing happened. Will we be resuming our training sessions?"

"Not tomorrow Hinata sama, you have a sparring match with your sister remember."

Hinata sat down. "I had completely forgotten about that."

"Well your sister is pretty excited about it."

Hinata put her glass on the table, "well she must be, the last time well I don't want to recall it, it was very embarrassing."

Neji looked at her with softened eyes, "don't worry I have a hunch everyone will witness a different side of you tomorrow."

Hinata looked up, "thanks!" getting up, "I have to go father wants to see me."

…...

"Hanabi I am going out to buy some groceries."

"Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes," shouted Hanabi loud enough for the whole compound tp hear.

"I know I won't take to long. Promise"

Hinata walked into the all to familiar market and made her way to the grocery store. Greeting the lady sitting on the counter Hinata picked up a basket and disappeared into the last isle. After about twenty minutes Hinata was carrying two bags packed with vegetables, milk and a whole lot of other things towards her home when she stopped and turned around ready to confront her stalker but apparently no one was there. She breathed a sigh of relief and resumed her walk towards the compound.

"Perceptive aren't you?"

Hinata dropped her bags and took her fighting stance to confront the enemy. Again no one was there.

"I am right here."

Hinata jerked towards the left but again no one was there.

Suddenly Hinata heard the rustle of the trees to her right and jumped up on the branch to follow the enemy. She could see some one ahead of her but she couldn't make out who it was.

She had been tailing that person for nearly an hour it didn't look like he or she were going to stop any time soon instead she thought that the distance between them had somewhat increased.

Determined not to loose the enemy Hinata quickened her pace.

Just fifteen minutes afterwards the culprit jumped down from the tree and she followed suit.

"You sure are persistent, following me all the way here."

Ignoring his statement Hinata got ready to fight and took her Gentle Fist fighting stance, "I am not afraid of you."

"Eh, well you should be because I can bring death upon you."

Hinata squinted her eyes, _"it's the same person from before."_

Sasuke tilted his head in amusement, "hmm I wonder what you're thinking in that pretty little head of yours."

Clenching her fists in anger, "who are you and what do you want?"

Hinata saw a flash and the next second she was pinned to the tree with a grip like steel, "Brave aren't you?"

Aching to escape Hinata tried to free herself, "it's no use squirming."

Hinata's eyes bulged as his head bent in her hair and he inhaled deeply.

"Let go of me!"

He snapped his head back and stared directly in her eyes, "you're very beautiful."

His right hand came to stroke her cheek and Hinata shut her eyes as if that would make it all go away.

He shifted his weight and gripped both of her arms above her head. "Hinata!" seizing her chin he lowered his head to kiss her but as he stepped back she had fainted in his arms. He smiled; this was the Hinata he knew, the shy beautiful Konoichi.

…...

"Hinata your up? What happened to you? You were found outside the Hyuga gates. Fainted!"

Hinata didn't hear her, instead stared out the window wondering what in the world had just happened to her.


	2. Chapter 2

My ramblings: So here it is guys, the next chapter. I thought about it and finally came up with a good plot to continue the story with. I hope you like it. Just a little warning, the updates to this story won't be fast cause I have to work now as well. But please I would love to hear what you guys think so please don't forget to review! Thank you and enjoy :D

shikamaru lover4ever: Really sorry for updating it after so long. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (wish I did though..hehe)

**A Strange Passing**

**Chapter 2:**

"What do you think happened to her?"

"I don't know, knowing Hinata she would have fainted if Naruto came ten feet with in her range."

Neji looked at her thoughtful, "no, I don't think this was because of Naruto, he's too loud to just lay Hinata-sama out on our porch. This has something to do with something else."

"Don't look at her like that;" she crossed her arms in frustration and shouted, "she's not like that."

"I know that," he retorted back.

"You…" Neji silenced her as he placed his forefinger on his lips and pointed towards Hinata.

Hanabi looked towards her and sure enough her sister was trying to wake up, her eyelids fluttered open once and then drooped back down. Both Neji and Hanabi went to stand on either side of her bed.

Hinata heard noises and tried to discern where she was, her eyes seemed so heavy, why couldn't she open them? She tried again and succeeded, at first everything was blurry, she blinked several times before her vision became clear.

Hinata looked about her room, her eyes first landed on her concerned cousin, standing just to her left and then a sigh made her aware of another person's presence. She looked around to locate the source of that groan and her gaze settled on a very frustrated Hanabi, standing to her right with a frown on her face.

Hinata burrowed her eyebrows at her expression, _is she angry? She looks concerned, why does she look concerned, is it because of…me? _Hinata looked at her confused.

Hanabi couldn't take it, "Hinata your up? What happened to you? You were found outside the Hyuga gates. Fainted!"

Neji scowled in frustration, he had specifically told her not to jump at Hinata with questions but despite his warning she had done exactly that.

Hinata didn't hear her, instead stared out the window wondering what in the world had just happened to her. _'Outside the Hyuga gates. Fainted, why? Had some thing happened?' _This was a strange revelation for her, what was she doing outside in the first place? Her eyes bulged as realization soon hit her.

Neji and Hanabi both looked at her waiting for an answer, "well?" asked Hanabi.

Neji gave her a look meaning to be patient to which she retorted, "well I don't have all day and I was worried sick all this time. On top of that I didn't get to have my match which was suppose to take place today," she crossed her arms in anger.

Her voice drew Hinata out of her thoughts and she looked at her hands, what was she suppose to tell them that she had chased after the enemy and had fainted in his arms. Yea right as if that would help her, then she would be confined to the Hyuga compound, no more missions, no more training with her teammates and no more long walks into the market. Hinata decided against it. Yet she could not lie, she had never lied in her life before. Hinata curled her hands in determination. She could do it.

Not looking at either one in particular, Hinata fixed her gaze on the table in front of her, she tried to speak but no words came out.

Neji and Hanabi exchanged a look and then nodded, Hanabi took Hinata's hands in her own looking directly at her she spoke softly, "don't worry about it and don't think too much about it. You need to rest so go back to sleep." She stroked her hand with her thumb as she looked her sister in the eyes, "ok!"

Hinata nodded as Hanabi got up to leave the room with Neji, they turned off the light just before they left.

Hanabi motioned, "lets talk."

Neji nodded and followed but they were interrupted by a servant claiming that their presence was being demanded by Lord Hiashi.

Neji and Hanabi exchanged a look to decide that they won't tell her father anything suspicious.

Greeting the head of their clan with the customary bow they both sat down on the mats facing Hiashi.

"Has she woken up?" asked Hiashi with a bit of concern.

"Yes father she has."

"Did she tell you what happened?"

"No!" Hanabi looked at her father for any emotion but there was none on his face, it was devoid of any concern, if it hadn't been for the flicker of concern in his voice she would have rendered him completely impassive.

"I want you two to find out what happened to her, she left for the market and then we found her unconscious nearly two hours afterwards. That is unacceptable. I want to know what happened."

Hanabi frowned, what was wrong with her father, he was acting…strange, since when did he care about Hinata that much. She had fainted before but she hadn't been doing that lately at all so she was also curious as to what had brought her old habit back but Hiashi's concern just perked at her curiosity even more.

"Father…" she was interrupted by the man himself, "I have a lot of paperwork so you two are dismissed for now." He waved them away with his hand.

Neji and Hanabi both bowed once again before leaving his office silently. They swiftly made their way towards Hanabi's room. Stepping in she quickly activated her Bayakugan and closed the door swiftly, "we are safe to talk everyone's busy."

Neji nodded and deactivated his Bayakugan.

Hanabi sauntered about her room; she didn't completely trust Neji either so she remained silent. "Don't worry Hanabi-sama, I am sure Hinata-sama just lost her way and got dizzy, after all she did come back from a mission that very day."

Hanabi nodded, that did sound like her sister, getting lost or probably unintentionally going on a long walk, her sister did like her walks but then who found her and left her outside on their porch? That is what confused her so much. Why not make his/her presence known, maybe who ever it was, was in a hurry but in Hanabi's case it still seemed rude to just leave without _a hey I found your daughter fainted there, so I just brought her to you _or something like that.

Since neither of them trusted each other, both remained silent before Neji got up to leave claiming he had a training session with his team today.

Hanabi nodded, she herself had one to which she was already late thanks to her sister. She wasn't one to worry about stuff but she had a bad feeling about it.

* * *

"Care to have a practice session with me, Sa-su-ke," smiled Lilian cynically.

Sasuke ignored her and continued with his training.

Lilian's smile vanished at his reaction before charging at him full force with her sword, Sasuke who had anticipated it nay he had done it on purpose blocked her attack with one swift movement.

"So you were playing with me huh, want me to get serious, I'll give you some hell of a practice."

Sasuke also smiled before taking his stance, ready to give her a killing blow. Unlike his sword, her sword was thin from the brim and wide at the end, it was heavy but she carried it as if it was as light as a feather.

Lilian charged at him first, "how about we make it interesting, no using our blood line."

Sasuke nodded before blocking her sword, he counter attacked with a kick and some punches which she effortlessly avoided.

They kept on aiming a series of kicks and punches at each other but to no avail. Sasuke had to admit, she was getting better at dodging his attacks. Now he had to think of some other way of defeating her.

"Come on Sasuke no use in hiding, I am waiting you know, don't be a chicken," shouted Lilian scanning the trees around her for any movement/sign, she was breathing hard now; it had been an hour since they had started their match.

Sasuke cringed at her loudness, how many times had he told her before; stealth and swiftness was the key not loud and tardy. He sighed before moving into position, '_time to end this' _he thought before he showered her with several kunai from all directions.

Lilian evaded them and jabbed Sasuke hard in his chest with her sword, which turned out to be a clone but that was all the time he needed, two seconds to disarm her right when she stabbed his clone.

Pinning her hands behind her back Sasuke whispered, "I win."

"Tsch, lets have another match."

Sasuke released her and vanished silently ending their practice session. "Damn I hate it when he does that."

"Don't worry he'll be back soon."

"Master-sama you were watching, I am sorry I lost again."

"Don't worry about it Lili, I can see that your improving and that is all I want of you."

"Yes Master-sama." He placed his hand on her shoulder, "and don't worry about him, you know he cares about you."

"Yes Master-sama, um thank you Master-sama."

He smiled before leaving her to her thoughts.

* * *

Shikamaru was currently going down the only route to the under ground chamber, "thank you for letting me have a look at it, any clues I find will be very helpful in uncovering the truth about this enemy."

"No problem, besides Tsunade's orders to assist you in every way possible with this investigation."

Shikamaru nodded and got off the elevator, the corridor was three feet wide and according to the information he had read had at least twenty traps laid about to surprise the enemy excluding the poison gas with which it was filled. He had to borrow a special suit form the Anbu Black ops just to go down and investigate the chamber since he would be poisoned the minute the smoke touched his body.

Finally making it to the room, he noticed the door had been completely ripped to pieces. He looked around taking everything in; nothing else had been touched only those documents had been stolen.

Shikamaru walked back to the corridor this time searching for clues, not just looking but examining every inch of it thoroughly, bingo he thought when he saw a thin mark of a line, looked as if someone had wedged their sword in the earth for some reason. He immediately looked about to find similar markings and he saw a pattern, starting all the way from the elevator to the entrance of the door. "Hey can some one bring down a specialist to see if they can recognize what kind of sword it is from the mark left here," Shikamaru asked.

"Yes sir, I'll ask right away."

The investigation took him more than five hours, it was troublesome but he had no choice, those documents were important and could be used against Konoha to start a war.

Once Shikamaru came back on surface he was informed that his presence was being demanded by Tsunade.

He nodded knowing her impatient nature and started to walk towards the Hokage tower.

* * *

Hanabi took another sip from her glass of water, Hinata was awake but she hadn't come down to have dinner with them. She also hadn't spoken anything about the incident; whenever they approached the topic she gave them a blank look and kept stubbornly silent about it.

Neji looked at his cousin, her frustration and concern was apparent on her face.

Hiashi could also sense the uneasy aura surrounding the table but he chose to ignore it rather he stated that the much awaited match between Hinata and Hanabi would be held tomorrow noon.

Hanabi started to fill up a plate once her father retreated into his room, "don't look at me like that, I am taking this plate to my sister. I want to have a fair fight tomorrow." And here he thought she was genuinely concerned for her sister. "I'll take it for you if you want."

"Really that would be really helpful," and with that she shoved the plate into Neji's hands mumbling some curses under her breath as she walked away. He smiled tomorrow is going to be an interesting day!

* * *

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